


here for you

by sirimiriii



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Minor Rachel Amber/Chloe Price
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 09:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15969416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirimiriii/pseuds/sirimiriii
Summary: Following the discovery of Rachel's fate, Chloe reflects on her feelings for Max and Rachel.





	here for you

When we find her in the ground, everything hurts. I feel like I'm going to shatter into pieces even though Max has thrown her arms around me. My mind latches on to her, anchoring me in the here and now. It wants to save me from spiraling, but I don't know if I can. I lost my dad and now I've really, truly lost Rachel. I always thought I'd find her. I thought I'd find her in Los Angeles. I'd struggle a bit, but I'd forgive her for leaving. I should have known she wouldn't leave like that. It was us against the world from the very beginning.

I hate myself for not being there to protect her.

"I, I don't know what I'm gonna do," I stammer, "without her."

"It's okay," Max assures me, "I've got you."

She doesn't tense up; she's not angry I'm mourning the person who filled in her spot while she was away. She's not going to leave me. I'm afraid she still might. My fingers tighten on her.

"Please don't leave me again, Max."

"I won't."

I move away, so I can look at her. "I mean it. _Don't_ leave me."

She doesn't even hesitate, nodding and squeezing my hand reassuringly; Max is known to hesitate because she isn't always sure of herself. I'm always the one who's sure of herself. That was always my role in our friendship, but when she left, my role shifted and Rachel became that for me.

"This is all so fucked up," I say.

"Yeah," she says.

I get to my feet and she follows suit, her eyes away from the haphazard plastic covering Rachel's body.

"We should call the cops," she says now, "okay?"

"Okay."

We stand together as she dials the number, reporting the crime scene. She tells the 911 operator she knows it's Rachel and they need to send someone to the junkyard. Soon, the place that has been my haven - that was _our_ haven - will be overrun with police.

Max slips her phone back into her pocket. "They're on their way."

I nod, my gaze slipping back to Rachel's resting place.

_I'm so sorry._

It only feels like moments later before the lights start flashing white, blue and red. A police officer takes our statements and tells us we need to leave because it's an active crime scene. They'll be in touch if they need anything else. I don't want to go. I don't want to leave her alone. It bothers me that when I thought she was missing and I roamed around the junkyard, even near this spot, she was so close to me all this time.

"We gotta go, Chloe." Max says softly, a hand on my arm.

All I feel capable of doing right now is nodding, so I do it again for the second time in what feels like as many minutes. We get back to my truck. I assure Max I can drive and we head back to my place.

The house is quiet when we arrive, so we tiptoe upstairs and go into my room. We sit down side by side on my bed. I can only think about all the times Rachel and I were in this room. I squeeze my eyes shut. I feel useless.

_Could Max rewind far enough to save her?_

I look at Max. She's staring down at the floor. I could never ask that of her, even though it's the one thing I want more than anything. She saved me; why couldn't she save Rachel too? Rachel deserves life more than me. If I could, I'd give up my life for hers.

_I'd never say that to Max._

For me, Rachel was the promise of so many things. She was my escape and my home rolled into one. I was completely and utterly in love with her; I know that now. I think she knew, but maybe I was too intense. Maybe that's why she was with Frank sometimes, I don't really know.

"Chloe?" Max's voice is soft and entreating.

I look over at her.

"Are you ... I mean ... I don't know what to say right now. I didn't know what to say back then either."

I know back then means when my dad died. Angry Chloe would say something like _do you ever know what to say, you usually run_ , but I don't say it. I don't want to be Angry Chloe anymore. I don't want to lose the last person in the world - save my mother - who cares about me. Even if Max did leave me, I have to face the facts that she didn't choose to leave me. She had to leave and she had to make the best of it.

"I know. This ... I wouldn't know what to say either."

"Can I just say that I'm here for you?"

"Yeah."

She reaches for my hand and entwines our fingers together. I lean against her, my head on her shoulder, and she rests her head on mine.

_For tonight, this is all I need._

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes video games get me in the feels. I haven't played Life is Strange for a while, but these girls still get me, so this little story was born. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
